Customer Login

Setting Up VDI for Small Setups: Hyper-V, Windows Licensing, and GPU Sharing

John Koziaris
Chief Executive Officer

Small businesses in fields like engineering, architecture, or manufacturing often rely on CAD applications. Even in 2D, these tools can be demanding, and not every user device can deliver smooth performance. For a 10-user office, the question becomes:

How can you virtualise desktops, share a GPU, and stay compliant with licensing — without enterprise-scale complexity?

This post explains the challenges of GPU sharing, Hyper-V choices, and Windows licensing so you can pick the right VDI design for a small team.

Setting Up VDI for Small Setups: Hyper-V, Windows Licensing, and GPU Sharing

The Challenge: GPU Sharing and Hypervisor Selection

When we looked at VDI for a small CAD team, two big sticking points came up:

1. How do you share a GPU across multiple VMs?

  • CAD workloads, even in 2D, benefit from GPU acceleration.

  • A single GPU in a server can’t just be “plugged in” and used by multiple VMs without special software and licenses.

2. Which hypervisor should you run?

  • Microsoft offers different paths:
    • Windows 11 Pro Hyper-V (client hypervisor)
    • Windows Server 2019/2022 Hyper-V (Standard)
    • Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V (Standard or Datacenter)

  • Each option has different costs, licensing requirements, and limitations.

For small setups, the wrong choice could mean either overspending or hitting technical limits later.

Solution

Step 1: Picking the Right Hyper-V Option

Hypervisor Option
Pros
Cons
Best Fit
Windows 11 Pro Hyper-V
Free with Pro OS, easy to enable
Limited management, no clustering, limited GPU sharing support
Test or very small lab environments
Windows Server 2019/2022 Hyper-V
Mature, stable, good for small VDI
Each VM still needs its own Windows license
Small production VDI for ~10 users
Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V
Latest features, better GPU virtualization, scales easily
Higher upfront cost
Growing setups or future expansion
👉 For most 10-user CAD environments, Windows Server 2019/2022 Hyper-V Standard is the sweet spot:
  • Solid hypervisor included with the Server license.
  • Run 10 × Windows 11 Pro VMs, each with its own license.
  • Add GPU sharing via NVIDIA vGPU software.

Step 2: Windows Licensing

  • Hyper-V without RDS → You can use Windows 11 Pro VMs. Each VM needs its own license, just like a physical PC.
  • Hyper-V with RDS VDI roles → Requires Windows 11 Enterprise + VDA rights + RDS CALs, adding complexity and cost.
For small setups, RDS VDI usually isn’t worth it. Stick with Windows 11 Pro VMs licensed per user.

Step 3: NVIDIA GPU Sharing

  • To share a GPU like the NVIDIA L4, install NVIDIA Virtual GPU (vGPU) software.
  • Each VM gets a virtual GPU slice, allowing CAD applications to run smoothly.
  • Licensing: Each concurrent user needs an NVIDIA RTX vWS license (~US $250/year per user).
Without vGPU software and licenses, GPU sharing isn’t technically or legally possible. (there are some 3rd Party Solutions that we haven’t tested)

Example: 10-User CAD VDI Deployment

  • Hypervisor: Windows Server 2019 Hyper-V Standard
  • Hardware: 1 × server, dual CPUs, 256 GB RAM, SSD storage, NVIDIA L4 GPU
  • VMs: 10 × Windows 11 Pro desktops with vGPU slices
  • Licensing:
    • 1 × Windows Server Standard license (host)
    • 10 × Windows 11 Pro licenses (per VM)
    • 10 × NVIDIA RTX vWS licenses (per concurrent CAD user)
  • Access: Users connect via RDP with MFA (Via VPN or On-Premise Gateway)

Result: Smooth 2D CAD performance, centralised management, and compliant licensing.

Licensing Cost Snapshot (Approximate, USD)

Component
Quantity
Approx. Cost / Year
Notes
Windows Server 2019 Standard
1
$882 one-time
Host Hyper-V
Windows 11 Pro
10
$1,999 total ($199/user) perpetual 
One per VM
NVIDIA RTX vWS vGPU
10
$2,500 ($250/user)
Per concurrent user
Total first-year cost: ~$5,381 (excluding hardware)
Note: Costs vary by region and reseller. NVIDIA licenses are annual subscriptions. Windows licenses can be purchased via volume or retail channels.

Conclusion

For small CAD teams, the key hurdles are:
  1. Hypervisor choice — Windows Server 2019/2022 Hyper-V is often the sweet spot for cost, performance, and GPU support.
  2. GPU sharing — The NVIDIA L4 must be paired with vGPU software and per-user licenses.
  3. Windows licensing — Windows 11 Pro VMs are sufficient for Hyper-V-only deployments; Enterprise is only needed if you use RDS VDI.
By planning your Hyper-V host, Windows licenses, and NVIDIA vGPU subscriptions together, even a 10-user office can enjoy GPU-accelerated CAD desktops without the overhead of enterprise-scale VDI.

Interested in learning more about our VDI setup or other services? We're here to help. Just fill out the form on the right, and a member of our team will get in touch with you shortly.

Author

John Koziaris

CEO/Founder

Founder and Principal of alltasksIT with 30+ years IT experience, John has a broad and varied experience across cloud computing strategies.

John has been successfully realising IT and networking solutions for small to medium businesses for over 25 years.